Flash CM 12 Android 5.0.2 Lollipop For Sony Xperia T

The Android 5.0.2 Lollipop-based CM 12 Nightly custom ROM is now live for the Xperia T smartphone worldwide. Check the installation info below if you wish to run such custom ROM on your smartphone.

CyanogenMod 12 Nightly ROM is based on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop ROM. The earliest builds aren't very stable, so it would be best to install them only for testing purposes. Check the CM blog page here in order to learn how to prepare your smartphone for the installation process:

use this post only with the Sony Xperia T smartphone.
- do not attempt to update any other Sony device with the files that you will find in this article as you will end up bricking its firmware.

your phone has to be rooted and running the latest CWM or TWRP custom Recovery Mode.
- the latest custom Recovery build has to be installed, so that it supports the latest Android 5.x Lollipop build.

the tutorial part features two extra preparation steps: the NANDROID ROM Backup and Factory Reset.
- do not skip these steps.
- the NANDROID ROM Backup creates a full restore point for your device, one that you can use in case the new ROM doesn't boot in normal mode.
- the 'factory reset' has to be applied so that you will get rid of all files that were installed by the previous ROM.
- 'factory reset' doesn't wipe any data from internal nor external storage space.
- if your device already sports a previous and official CM 11 Nightly or M-Snapshot ROM, then you can skip the 'nandroid rom backup' and 'factory reset' steps.

in case you need to backup some data files from installed apps or any other type of data files, then you should try to use the Helium app for Android.
- Contacts data can be synced with your default Gmail account.

this is a guide that has to be used by advanced Android users, do not blame us in case you end up losing any data files in the process.

read the whole and do not skip any steps.
- we cannot be held responsible in case you end up bricking your device.

check the battery charge level and make sure that you won't skip any steps.

Since you've read all of the above you can continue to the next part of this post and learn how to flash a brand new Lollipop custom ROM for your phone.

How to flash CM 12 Nightly ROM for Sony Xperia T:

Download the CM 12 Nightly ROM zip from here.
- you can keep updating the ROM using the CyanogenMod Updates menu under Settings.
- Nightly builds are released on a daily basis and it is recommended to check for updates from time to time.

After the downloads are complete you can copy both zip files to your phone's internal storage.
- do not unzip the files.
- after you've completed copying both zip files you can continue with the rest of the tutorial.

Power off the Xperia T.

Next, boot it in Custom Recovery Mode.
- the custom Recovery Mode boot guide I've linked above is designed for Xperia Z2, but it should work with Xperia T, too.

First thing that you need to so using the Custom TWRP or CWM Recovery Mode is to set a restore point for your device:
- for CWM selet the 'backup and restore' option and for TWRP you should select 'backup' option.
- set a name for the file and confirm process.

Now you can apply the 'factory reset':
- for CWM select 'wipe data/ factory reset'.
- for TWRP select 'Wipe' option.
- confirm the 'factory reset' and then continue with the tutorial.